A Hero's Journey - Stages and Definitions

• Ordinary world: The hero goes about their ordinary life and demonstrates their flaws.

• Call to Adventure: The Call to Adventure can be defined as some information, presented in the form of a problem, a challenge or a request, which is received by the hero and will require some form of action which takes him off into the unknown.

• Refusal of the call: The Hero has received the Call to Adventure but instead of accepting it, he refuses.

• Supernatural Aid: Help is given to the hero from someone who is endowed with abilities beyond the normal. They may or may not give the hero some talisman to help him on the journey.

• Crossing the First Threshold: The hero agrees to take on the journey, often reluctantly or because external forces have given him no other choice. This is the point of no return, a moment of commitment and change, leaving behind the old and accepting the new. New opportunities, new dangers.

• Belly of the whale: Turning point for our hero, the purpose is to prepare the hero, physically and mentally for the challenges ahead.

• The Road of the trials: The Hero has to prove himself worthy and earn the right to achieve transformation . This stage is not a singular moment, it’s a number of steps spread across the second act.

• Meeting with the Goddess: A unification with someone, it doesn’t have to be a woman but most likely is but it also includes self unification. It’s a stage where the hero receives a boost or support from love.

• Woman as Temptress: The Temptress is the opposite of the Goddess, the Goddess compels the hero on but the Temptress, provides a distraction or a detour. Rather than performing the role of a blocker or threshold guardian the Temptress presents a situation for the hero where he must make a choice.

• Atonement with the Father: The hero must reconcile with the ultimate authority figure in his life. Reconciliation means to end the conflict. The authority figure needs to hand over approval or respect or the hero comes to the realization that the authority figure was right.

• Apotheosis: Apotheosis is the expansion of consciousness that the hero experiences after defeating a foe.The Hero has the ability to do something which ordinary people can not. They are capable of doing things which their old self could not.

• Ultimate Boon: The Ultimate Boon is the specific direct response to the call to adventure. 

• Refusal of the return: Refusing to go back to the same ordinary life. The Hero has achieved the Ultimate Boon and has proved himself worthy to complete the journey. He now must return, bringing with him what he has learnt and what he has become. 

• The Magic flight: Once the Ultimate Boon has been achieved, the antagonist chases after the Hero for a big final fight.

• Rescue from without: Others should not stand idly by and watch the hero do everything.

• The crossing of the return Threshold: The crossing of the return Threshold brings to a conclusion what began at the crossing of the first Threshold.

• Master of two worlds: By the end of this stage, the hero now has proven he ability to effortlessly pass back and forth between the two worlds.

• Freedom to live: Freedom to live means freedom from negative emotions which pull the hero away from living in the moment.

• Additional Stage - Death of the mentor: The mark of separation from the shelter of the mentor and that the hero must face the rest of the quest alone.